J.D. Wilkes is an American musician, visual artist, author, filmmaker and self-proclaimed “southern surrealist”.  He is an accomplished multi-instrumentalist (notably on harmonica and banjo), having recorded with such artists as Merle Haggard, John Carter Cash, Mike Patton, and Hank Williams III.

Wilkes is perhaps best known as the founder of the Legendary Shack Shakers, a Southern Gothic rock and blues band formed in the mid 90s. Fans of his work with Legendary Shack Shakers include Stephen King, Robert Plant and former Dead Kennedys frontman Jello Biafra. Legendary Shack Shakers have toured with the likes of Robert Plant and The Black Keys, among others. Their music has been featured in HBO’s True Blood series, and in a long-running Geico commercial.

A resident of Paducah, Kentucky, Wilkes is a Kentucky Colonel, an honorable title bestowed by the state’s Governor upon those with a connection to, or who are famous residents of the state of Kentucky. In 2015, Wilkes was featured on the BBC original series ‘Songs of the South’, in an episode focusing on the musical history of Tennessee and Kentucky.

Aside from his prolific career in music, Wilkes is also a published writer, having recently authored the book ‘Barn Dances and Jamborees Across Kentucky’, an exploration of his state’s social music and dance history based on extensive fieldwork and research. A true Southern Renaissance man, Wilkes is also an accomplished visual artist (specializing in comics, sideshow banners and book illustrations) as well as a documentary filmmaker (his documentary ‘Seven Signs’ explores “music, myths, and the American South” and was screened at the UK’s prestigious Raindance Film Festival).

The latest solo album by musician/novelist J.D. Wilkes entitled ‘Fire Dream’ (Big Legal Mess/Fat Possum), is like a sideshow blowing in on a Caribbean gale, only to land smack dab in a Kentucky junkyard. Backed by an all-star cast of the South’s most eclectic musicians (including members of both The Squirrel Nut Zippers and the Drive-By Truckers!), Wilkes crafts a soundscape of his homeland’s varied voices. From the old-time music of Appalachia to the Cajun, jazz and island music of the Creole nether-glades, the new album charters the listener on a journey… a journey, as it turns out, that has led only deeper into J.D.’s storied psyche.